Educational Science

Keystone XL Pipeline Will Cause Damage Beyond Spills (Op-Ed)

Danielle Droitsch is director of the Canada Project at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). She contributed this article to LiveScience's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Back in 2007, while I was working and living in Alberta and focused on the protection of watersheds, I organized a canoe expedition down...

What is crude oil?

With the energy crisis roiling the world, sending fuel prices and other costs soaring, you may wonder where your energy comes from. Crude oil, in particular, is a pretty useful substance. Around the world, just over 95 million barrels of the stuff are used every single day, according to Statista,...

Twenty-two thousand tons (20,000 metric tons) of oil products leaked from a Russian industrial power plant into a river in the Arctic Circle on May 29. Russian president Vladimir Putin declared a state of emergency in the region around the Ambarnaya River, in eastern Russia, due north of Mongolia. According...

Indonesian oil refinery ignites into towering inferno

A massive fire has broken out at one of Indonesia's largest oil refineries, creating a towing inferno and dark plumes of smoke and toxic fumes. Some experts say lightning could have sparked the fire and explosion. At least 20 people have been injured, five of whom are in intensive care...

Does gasoline go bad?

Has it been a while since you moved your car? Do you have leftover fuel in your garage for the lawn mower? If so, you may wonder, does gasoline go bad? Unfortunately, there's no hard and fast rule, said James Speight, an energy consultant and author of the Handbook of...

New Way to Make 'Green Diesel' from Coal

Scientists have improved the technique for transforming coal into green diesel, potentially making the process economically feasible to bring the fuel to a pump near you. Coal fuel is seen by some as a potential bridge between the limited supply of oil and alternative fuels, many of which aren't ready...

Oil spill off Mauritius is visible from space

The Indian Ocean island nation of Mauritius is on the brink of an environmental catastrophe after a bulk carrier struck a coral reef off its coast in late July, an accident that has led to a large oil spill visible from space. The accident could lead to an even greater...

The West's Largest Coal Plant May Close

The largest coal-fired power plant in the West — one of the biggest climate polluters in the nation — could close later this year, a major symbolic blow to the future of coal as the backbone of America's electric power grid. The owners of Arizona's Navajo Generating Station northeast of...

High-Profile 'Clean Coal' Project Staggers, as Trump Seeks to Slash R&D Funds

The first attempt at building a clean coal power plant that captures its carbon dioxide before being burned is struggling to get up and running in Mississippi, as the Trump administration plans to sharply cut back funding for the technology. Mississippi Power's Kemper power plant is designed to allow the...